


The Red Tulip Effect

by AcesOfSpade



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - No Powers, F/M, Fluff, Human Vision (Marvel), Soulmate-Identifying Marks
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-01
Updated: 2017-01-01
Packaged: 2018-09-14 02:01:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 988
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9152587
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AcesOfSpade/pseuds/AcesOfSpade
Summary: Every day at 4:00 in the afternoon, Wanda Maximoff visits her favourite cafe, and her favourite barista.Every day at 4:00 in the afternoon, Jonas Pym gets to see his favourite patron.What these two don't know yet is that they're soulmates. How will they find out?





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [LaughLikeLoki](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LaughLikeLoki/gifts).



> I meant for this to be a one-shot. It is not a one-shot. Oh well. 
> 
> Also, for Loki, my ScarletVision trash buddy

Every day at 4:00 in the afternoon, like clockwork, Wanda Maximoff would visit the same coffee shop, order the same thing, and sit in the same place as she continued her latest art piece. Her order never changed, though people thought it weird that she drank a large coffee with ten sugars once a day, every day.

 

Every day at 3:00 in the afternoon, Jonas Pym started his shift at the same coffee shop Wanda frequented. He clocked in, threw on his apron, and stood at the register for six hours as people yelled at him for getting their orders wrong. Not Wanda though, never Wanda. She would just walk up to the counter and smile, reaching for her wallet because Jonas already knew what she wanted and had it ready before she got there.

 

Jonas wouldn’t admit it to anybody, but he had fallen for Wanda over the course of his first year at the coffee shop. She was the kind of person he’d want to be friends with, if only he could work up the courage to speak to her. Whenever she smiled at him, he felt the soulmark on his left arm heat up, as if it knew something he didn’t. The red tulip on the back of his left hand had a stem that wrapped around his forearm, though he usually wore long sleeves at work to cover it up. Most people didn’t have highly visible soulmarks, let alone such a large one. He wasn’t ashamed of his mark, he just didn’t want people bugging him about it.

 

Sometimes, Wanda caught sight of the red tulip on the back of Jonas’ hand when he handed her coffee over the counter, and every time she did see it, she felt the red tulip on the back of _her_ left hand heat up. She chalked the similarities between their tulips up to a coincidence, because she wasn’t that lucky. The dorky barista she’d fallen for couldn’t possibly be her soulmate, because the Universe hated her and wanted to make her suffer. Whenever she saw Jonas’ soulmark, her mind flooded with thoughts of whether or not he’d already found his soulmate, what she was like, stuff like that. She couldn’t fathom the idea that she might be his soulmate, because she didn’t think she deserved to be anyone’s soulmate.

 

One day, in the middle of September, Wanda didn’t show up. Jonas became concerned, but he was at work until closing at nine, so he couldn’t do anything. He had to throw out the coffee he had ready for her, a wave of concern rolling over him. Was she alright? Did something happen to her? He hoped she was alright, because he didn’t want to think about something bad happening to her.

 

The next day, Wanda was back at the coffee shop. When Jonas spotted her, he had to force himself not to grin widely. He had her coffee all ready for her, handing it over when she got to the front of the line. He served two more people before calling back to his manager that he was taking a break, planning on finally talking to Wanda.

 

He approached her table almost nervously, his hands wringing together behind his back as he walked.

 

“May I sit with you?” Jonas asked when he got to Wanda’s table, his voice unsure and quiet.

 

Wanda looked up from her sketchbook with a curious tilt of her head when she noticed how nervous Jonas looked, but she nodded. “Go ahead.”

 

Jonas sat across from her, sneaking a peak at her sketchbook. He felt a blush rising in his cheeks when he saw that she was drawing him, however much he tried to fight it.

 

“Where were you yesterday?” he asked, trying to sound casual rather than worried.

 

“My brother tripped and broke his ankle, he needed someone to take him to the hospital,” Wanda explained with a small shrug, not thinking about the drawing of Jonas that her sketchbook was open to.

 

“Your brother?” Jonas muttered curiously.

 

“Pietro,” Wanda nodded. “He’s not the most coordinated human being. More like a baby giraffe.”

 

Jonas chuckled at her analogy, running a hand through the mess of raven black curls on his head. “I see. My brother is much the same,” he commented. “Victor can’t keep himself from falling over all the time. But then, he is only four.”

 

“Awe, that’s adorable,” Wanda cooed. “Pietro and I are twins, he’s just a klutz.”

 

“I can imagine. What did he trip over?” Jonas asked.

 

“A tree root. He was racing our little sister around the backyard and his foot got caught,” Wanda answered. “Lorna and I were freaking out, and so was our Papa when we told him.”

 

“How many siblings do you have?” Jonas asked, tilting his head in curiosity. “I have three, two sisters and a brother.”

 

“I have two sisters and a brother,” Wanda said with a raised eyebrow. “Anya is the oldest, then Pietro and I, then Lorna.”

 

“I’m the oldest, followed by Jessica, Allison, then Victor,” Jonas said.

 

“And you’re what, 18?” Wanda wondered out loud.

 

“17, actually,” Jonas corrected her. “Are you 18 then?”

 

Wanda shook her head. “Also 17.”

 

The two fell silent for a few moments before Jonas finally spoke up again, rubbing the back of his neck.

 

“We should hang out some time,” he muttered, biting his lip nervously.

 

“I would like that,” Wanda smiled, looking around for a napkin. When she found one, she grabbed her pencil and scribbled down her number alongside her name and a smiley face, handing it to Jonas. “Just text me. Or we can talk again tomorrow?” she told him.

 

Jonas accepted the napkin, carefully folding it and sliding it into the front pocket of his apron. “I should get back to work before Tony gets mad at me,” he sighed, standing and heading back to the register.


End file.
